“Job” Class Notes
Darwin Hayes (Arch ’91)
Darwin K. Hayes (Arch ’91) was named dental director for New Jersey by the state’s department of health. In his new role, Dr. Hayes will oversee dental services and programs for New Jersey residents. Prior to joining the department, Dr. Hayes served nearly seven years as the lead co-director of the General Practice Residency Program at BronxCare Health System.
During his tenure, he was part of the executive management team that used a $3.5 million government grant to improve access to high quality healthcare by increasing the number of dental providers and expanding an integrated oral health/primary care initiative through the successful management of a highly competitive HRSA-funded project.
He also served as Chair of the Administration Board for the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) Council of Advanced Education Programs.
Dr. Hayes is a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Dentistry and the GPR program at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital. He received his Certificate in Dental Education from the University of the Pacific’s Benerd School of Education and Dugoni School of Dentistry. ln 2017, he completed the two-year Executive Master’s Degree Program in Healthcare Administration from George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health.
William Decker (Col ’90, Engr ’95)
Bill Decker (Col ’90, Engr ’95 L/M) was named director of business affairs and commercialization for the Office of Innovation and Commercialization at the University of California, San Diego. He is responsible for leading a team of senior professionals and administrators dedicated to seeing commercial products result from the creation of intellectual property and other modes of innovation at the school.
Anthony Lowman (Engr ’93 CM)
Anthony Lowman (Engr ’93 L/M) was appointed as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Rowan University, which has campuses in Glassboro, Camden and Stratford, New Jersey. Lowman has served as dean of the University’s Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering since 2013.
Avalyn Taylor (Col ’00)
Avalyn Taylor (Col ’00) has joined Portland, Oregon, law firm Rizzo Mattingly Bosworth as an associate. Taylor will represent clients in environmental matters ranging from regulatory compliance to litigation. Taylor most recently clerked for U.S. Magistrate Judge Stacie F. Beckerman after serving as an associate at a Portland litigation firm. She attended Lewis & Clark Law School.
Steven Nesbit (Engr ’80 CM)
Steve Nesbit (Engr ’80, ’82 L/M) retired from Duke Energy Corp. after a 37-year career and established LMNT Consulting for work on the nuclear fuel cycle and advanced nuclear energy systems. In June 2019, he married the former Shelley Stout and also testified on spent fuel management before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The couple lives in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Judge Richard Goldenhersh (Law ’01)
Richard Goldenhersh (Law ’01) has joined the mediation and senior arbitrator panels of United States Arbitration & Mediation, a provider of mediation and arbitration services in the St. Louis metropolitan area. Goldenhersh was a justice with the Illinois 5th District Appellate Court for 30 years, as well as a circuit court judge and associate circuit court judge in St. Clair County, Illinois.
Jody Chance (Engr ’87, Nurs ’12, Nurs ’17 CM)
Jody Chance (Engr ’88, Nurs ’12, ’17 L/M) has joined Riverside Heath System on the Eastern Shore of Virginia after 10 years as a flight paramedic and nurse with VCU Health System. At Riverside, she serves as a nurse practitioner focusing on family medicine and gastroenterology.
Neal Patton (Arch ’78 CM)
Neal Patton (Arch ’78 L/M) is now general counsel at International Market Centers following its recent merger with his long-time employer, AmericasMart Real Estate. The combined company owns and manages trade marts, trade shows, design centers, and exhibition facilities in High Point, North Carolina, Las Vegas and Atlanta, where Patton lives.
Nicholas Redmond (Col ’00, Educ ’02)
Nicholas E. Redmond (Col ’00, Educ ’02) was ordained as a Catholic priest for the Diocese of Richmond in June 2018. After serving his first year as a priest in Newport News, Virginia, he is now at St. Joseph’s in Petersburg, Virginia.
Kent Sullivan (Col ’78, Law ’82 CM)
Kent Sullivan (Col ’78, Law ’82 L/M) was appointed to a second term as Texas insurance commissioner, and the appointment was unanimously confirmed by the Texas Senate during its recently concluded legislative session. He took office in October 2017, having been asked by Gov. Greg Abbott to serve in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. As commissioner, he is the sole regulator for the second-largest insurance market in the country and the eighth-largest market in the world. His prior professional experience includes more than 25 years in private law practice and service as a justice on the Texas Court of Appeals, a state district court judge, and first assistant attorney general for the Texas Attorney General.
M. Alliston (Col ’83 CM)
M. Ross Alliston (Col ’83, Arch ’90 L/M) has accepted a position as a foreign affairs officer with the U.S. Department of State in the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, at their headquarters in Washington, D.C. He previously spent 16 years as a fish and wildlife biologist with the National Wildlife Refuge System.
Ashley Deihr (Com ’04, Com ’05)
Ashley Deihr (Com ’04, ’05) has been promoted to partner at Baker Tilly, an advisory, tax and assurance firm. Deihr has been with Baker Tilly since 2005 and assists institutions to achieve strategic and financial success, optimize operational effectiveness and enhance compliance.
Eric Hairston (Grad ’04)
Eric “Ashley” Hairston (Grad ’94, ’04) was named associate dean for the Office of Academic Advising and university associate professor at Wake Forest University, starting July 1, 2019. Author of The Ebony Column: Classics, Civilization, and the African American Reclamation of the West, Hairston was a 2015 Virginia Foundation for the Humanities Fellow. He most recently served as associate professor of English and of law and humanities and director of the Center for Law and Humanities at Elon University.
Deborah Awai (Col ’81, Law ’84 CM)
Deborah M. Awai (Col ’81, Law ’84 L/M) was appointed as the chief financial officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. As senior vice president for the finance and statistics groups, Awai oversees multiple business groups, including financial planning, accounting, procurement, supplier diversity, depository institution reserve requirement compliance and data collection and analytics.
Todd MacLeod (Com ’90 CM)
Todd MacLeod (Com ’90 L/M) joined Bachara Construction Law Group in Jacksonville, Florida. An experienced litigator with extensive knowledge of the construction industry, MacLeod was previously a partner at Cole, Scott and Kissane, also in Jacksonville. His practice will continue to be focused on construction litigation, general and commercial litigation, contract evaluation and dispute resolution. Before earning his law degree from Florida Coastal School of Law, MacLeod was a general contractor, business owner and corporate executive.
Laura Belmonte (Grad ’91, Grad ’96)
Laura Belmonte (Grad ’91, ’96) was appointed dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences at Virginia Tech University, beginning Aug. 1. Belmonte currently serves as associate dean for instruction and personnel at Oklahoma State University.
Michael Mayes (Arch ’99 CM)
Mike Mayes (Arch ’99 L/M) joined BCG Digital Ventures in April as a product director, leading corporate innovations and incubation activities for BCG clients. Previously, he ran his own product innovation consulting practice from 2013-2019 focused on fintech, HR tech and entertainment client digital transformations. He and his wife, Caroline Cundiff Mayes (Col ’99 L/M), live in Santa Monica, California, with their two daughters, Phoebe and Eliza.
Nicholas Knodt (Arch ’14)
Nicholas Knodt (Arch ’14) joined the Washington, D.C., office of Quinn Evans Architects as a staff architect. Knodt has extensive experience in the design of higher education, museum, and theater facilities, primarily in the Northeast.
Lynne Tickle (Col ’84 CM), Emily Wilkinson (Com ’81 CM)
Lynne Barnard Tickle (Col ’84 L/M) and Emily Lewis Wilkinson (Com ’81 L/M) started Concierge on Call in 2018. The company, based in Richmond, Virginia, provides organizational, de-cluttering and downsizing assistance in Richmond and throughout the Northern Neck of Virginia. After 32 years in banking, Tickle retired in 2017 as senior vice president of TowneBank.
Luke Fox (Engr ’15 CM)
Luke Fox (Eng ’15 L/M) was named managing engineer and director of operations for Hampton Roads Executive Airport, a reliever airport for Norfolk International Airport in Chesapeake, Virginia. He brings four years of experience in federal facilities engineering and management where his responsibilities sent him to Chicago, Jacksonville, San Diego, Hawaii and Japan. Fox is a 2019 master’s candidate in engineering management at Old Dominion University and has been inducted into Phi Kappa Phi. He lives in Virginia Beach.
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